Description
A rather large Hyperolius (males 22–33 mm, females 33–39 mm) from the bushland and dense savanna in eastern Africa. Snout long and pointed. Dorsum uniform light to dark brown or green with a distinct dark lateral band. A light canthal and dorsolateral stripe often present in the brown specimens, rarely in the green-backed. Hidden parts of limbs reddish to yellow. Ventrum unpigmented in most populations, dusky dark in many populations in the Nile Basin. Dorsum usually without asperities. Pupil horizontal.

H. kivuensis and H. balfouri are quite similar and have overlapping ranges. They differ in that H. balfouri is larger, with a different dorsal pattern and with small dorsal asperities in males. H. balfouri has a dark line on the snout above the canthus rostralis, while H. kivuensis has a dark line beneath the canthus rostralis. According to Poynton and Broadley (1987), some specimens of H. kivuensis may resemble H. quinquevittatus, although the latter is generally much smaller and slimmer. Also according to Poynton and Broadley (1987), my (1975) records from southern Malawi are H. quinquevittatus, not H. kivuensis. This would mean that the ranges of H. kivuensis and H. tuberilinguis do not overlap.

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Angola, Burundi, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, South Sudan, Tanzania, United Republic of, Uganda, Zambia

	View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
	View Bd and Bsal data (43 records).

A species from the dense savannas of south-western Ethiopia, western Kenya and southern Uganda to Angola, southern R. D. Congo and southern Zambia.

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
The call consists of a series of slow, coarse creaks. The sonogram shows that the creak has a long duration and is split up in separate figures.

The eggs are placed out of water. They are white with a small black pole. The jelly is milky.

Comments
This account was taken from "Treefrogs of Africa" by Arne Schiøtz with kind permission from Edition Chimaira publishers, Frankfurt am Main.

References

Poynton, J. C. and Broadley, D. G. (1987). ''Amphibia Zambesiaca 3. Rhacophoridae and Hyperoliidae.'' Annals of the Natal Museum, 28, 161-229.

Schiøtz, A. (1999). Treefrogs of Africa. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2008 Hyperolius kivuensis: Kivu Reed Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/540> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Nov 29, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 29 Nov 2024.

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